Second Chance
by Mimichee
Summary: Kagome's hated demons all her life, but when she meets the demon of the forest, she finds herself caught in a web of secrets with no way out! Summary under construction. ]


~*~

_Black and White shall  intertwine_

_One shall fall, the other searches for the sign_

_Find the jewel and make the wish_

_Too late, it's done, it can't be fixed_

_The one with The Light thus shall come_

_The Gray remains to be the one_

_But hear me now, do not weep_

_For their heart, they shall keep_

~*~

Long ago, a young miko by the name of Kikyo fell in love with a hanyou named Inuyasha. As the protector of the Shikon no Tama, people whispered amongst themselves, calling her a demon, a traitor, and many other things. Although she knew of this, Kikyo did nothing to correct them, for she had expected that to happen. She loved Inuyasha, and knew that he loved her as well. Although she loved Inuyasha even as a hanyou, she was unhappy, and urged him to let her change that.

 Inuyasha only wanted to make Kikyo happy, so, unhappy as he was about the decision, he became human, using the Shikon no Tama. But even after he became a human, the villagers still whispered about them, saying that she was tainted, dirty, and not to be trusted. Kikyo was unable to take back her position as miko, so she became an unwanted healer, living in the forest with Inuyasha, until she died by a plague.

They say that when she died, Inuyasha went looking for the Shikon no Tama to become a demon again, and that he had only used Kikyo and had planned to kill her. Some said that the sacred jewel had been destroyed, smashed until it was nothing more than dust. But whatever happened to it, it was never found. Not by Inuyasha. Not by anybody.

* * *

Kagome ran out of the small house and into the dusty road, wearing a bright white shirt and brown breeches. Her hair was tied back into a pony tail with a small white ribbon. Hastily, she jumped into her shoes and was halfway out the door when she heard a sharp voice snap, "Kagome! How could you go out wearing that?! It's not appropriate for a young girl your age!"

She hung her head and sighed deeply. Damn it, she had almost gotten away! She'd have to be faster next time. "Mom, it's fine! It's perfectly comfortable! And anyways, I absolutely refuse to wear a heavy kimono on a hot day like this!" Kagome hid a smile. They had this argument every day, where her mom disapproved of what she wore (even though she was the one who made them for her) and she argued back that they were fine.

"Well, don't get them dirty like last time! I just made that shirt and those breeches, so if you don't come back with it looking like it is now, you won't be getting supper!" 

"Mom, seriously! I'm just going for a nice walk around the usual places! How could I possibly get dirty?" She heard a low chuckle.

"But surely, you will have some kind of an 'accident' of some sort and end up coming home with a black eye..." Another voice said. 

Blushing furiously, she quickly retorted, "It's not my fault the boys always challenge me to a fight! I'm going now, bye mom, bye grandma!" She ran out the door before her mother could stop her again. 

"Kagome!" Her mother sighed, "What will I do with her? She's still a tomboy after all these years!" The old woman beside her only smiled. 

Kagome walked slowly towards her destination, her hands in her pockets, humming softly to herself. She was in no hurry. Kagome watched people go by, waving occasionally to people she knew, but never stopping to chat. She finally stopped in front of a large brass gate, and her humming stopped. Gently pushing the gates open, she walked into the familiar surroundings. It was quiet as she walked between the neatly cut grass and the large gray slabs of rock.

She stopped again when she found what she was looking for. Kneeling down, she faced three tombstones, side by side. She put an affectionate hand on the soft grass in front of them and smiled sadly. "Hi Grandpa, dad. Hey Souta. It's me again. Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to visit you again. Mom is still trying to get me to wear a dress, and grandma's still healthy. We miss you." 

Her voice cracked and tears started to blur her vision, but she held them back. She had cried enough. Sighing, she lay her head on the tombstone and gazed idly at the thick forest that was on the outskirts of the small cemetery.

Inuyasha's Forest. 

Who hadn't heard that fairy tale? Of the Miko and Youkai – No, half youkai – who had fallen in love? She gave a short laugh. That was unheard of. Totally unacceptable. No wonder it was a fairy tale. Something like that would never happen in real life. But her grandma and grandpa had claimed it was true. Her grandma still did.

Her thoughts were turned away from that as she noticed that she had been staring at a blinking light. That wouldn't have been suspicious in the least, except that it coming from inside the forest. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly stood up from the ground and made her way to the edge of the forest. She started having second thoughts when she peered into at the dark trees,  but then she saw the blinking light again. 

"As long as I can see the trail, I can always turn back." She said with more confidence than she felt. Finally taking a deep breath, she marched into the forest, glancing back now and then to make sure she could still see the opening into the forest.

After a while of walking, she began to grow tired, but, strangely enough, the blinking light still didn't seem any closer then before! Kagome made a mental picture of it in her mind, and went on a bit more without looking at it. When she did look again, it still didn't look any closer. Finally sighing in defeat, she turned around to head back, except she couldn't find the trail. Wait, SHE COULDN'T FIND THE TRAIL?! Her eyes widened at the realization. She had 

"No no, don't panic Kagome, don't panic. That road has to be _somewhere_ around here." She wrapped her arms around herself at a sudden chill and shivered, looking up at the sun to see what time of day it might be when she noticed for the first time that the thick canopy of leaves above her blocked the sunlight. She shakily whispered to herself, "Is it just me, or did it suddenly get darker?"

 Deciding that she should at least _try_ to find the trail, she set off at a fast pace, pushing trees and branches aside recklessly as she felt the panic rise and clutch at her heart. Kagome sang loudly to keep herself company, but what song she sang, she had no idea. 

She desperately tried to ignore every single rustle of the bushes and animal sounds that went on around her. For what seemed like hours, she kept on walking, not daring to stop in case an animal might attack her. Her legs ached and her arms were covered with goose bumps, but she wouldn't let herself wonder why. She instantly stopped singing when she saw a bush move violently (not like she could have gone on anyway, she was too thirsty). 

Kagome stared at the bushes for a moment, trying to make sense of the numerous things going through her mind. "H-Hello?" The voice coming out of her throat was scratchy and hoarse. Clearing it with a small cough, she tried again.  "Hello? Is someone there?" She frowned when she there wasn't an answer, and she called out again, a little louder and impatiently this time.

There! Another rustle in the bushes! She crossed her arms in annoyance. "Come out right now, whoever you are! I'm in no mood for this!" She stared hard at the shadow between the trees behind the bushes. The bushes were shaking again, but suddenly stopped, along with her heart. The silence after that was threatening. "Hey! Where are you? Are you still there?"

Then from her left a large shape lunged at her. Kagome's body felt paralyzed, and no matter how much her mind screamed at her to move, she couldn't. She opened her mouth to scream, but no voice came out. She felt like she was watching everything in slow motion, but then she suddenly found her voice and loud, piercing scream erupted from her throat. 

Her own scream had snapped something inside her, because without thinking, she darted out of the figure's way. Ignoring the urge to fall to the ground, she forced her protesting legs to run. The trees whirled by her in a blur as she screamed inside her head, _run, run, run. Faster. I have to go faster!_

She mentally scolded herself for singing so loud. Stupid idiot Kagome! Of course something had heard her and came to get her. She let herself glance back over her shoulder when she heard a terrifying roar. Somewhere behind her was an enormous and hideous youkai. Its head brushed the top of the trees as it straightened its back, startling several birds into flight. Its disgusting stench reached her nose even at her distance.

Never once did Kagome stop running. If anything, the sight of the youkai had made her go faster then ever. She felt its gaze on her back and the ground shaking under her feet as he took his gigantic steps towards her. She felt her rage rise as she realized that he was purposely making no effort to use his full speed to catch her. He was making fun of her! But she didn't dare herself to turn around and fight the monster – It was more than twice as big as her!

Her side ached as though it were on fire, and her legs felt like they would give to her weight any moment. Her vision blurred and before she knew it, she was on the ground. Flopping onto her back, she tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn't respond. Looking up at the youkai as he advanced towards her, still deliberately taking his time, she felt a shiver run down her spine when she saw the sinister smile playing on his lips.  She scrambled to pull herself backward, but like in many other situations such as this one, she found herself backed up against a tree. 

When he stood in front of her, he bent down so that he could look at her more closely. "Well well well," She coughed at his disgusting breath, making a face at him. "What have we got here? A little human girl wandering out in the dangerous forest all by herself. Tsk tsk tsk. Little girls like you should stay at home and know when to show respect to her betters. I guess I'll just have to teach you a lesson, don't I?"

Kagome's blood boiled with anger, but she chose not to waste her energy on yelling. Instead, she held the youkai's gaze for a minute before dropping it to the ground in what she hoped made her look like she was scared. In truth, she was scared. But she wouldn't show that. Hiding her eyes behind her bangs, she hid a smirk when she heard him laugh.

She blindly groped behind her for something, anything. Grabbing a handful of dirt and what she hoped was sand, she just barely tensed her body. _I hope this works_. She lifted her head and mildly registered his surprised face. In one smooth motion, she threw the gathered dirt and sand from her hand as hard as she could and into his face, aiming for the eyes.

Before the youkai had even reacted yet, Kagome leaped onto her feet, and sped off again. She felt the youkai coming after her again, snarling this time. The panic that had been forgotten in her moment of bravery caught up with her, and she cursed herself for her bad luck as she ran. _All I wanted was to find out what was shining Making the mistake of closing her eyes at the sudden rush of the tears, she tripped over a tree root and fell head first into the dirt._

Lifting her head and looking over her shoulder, her eyes widened when she saw the youkai bounding towards her, this time not caring to take his time. His eyes were a bright red and instead of a smirk, his mouth was turned in a snarling frown. Kagome's heartbeat increased ten-fold and she shut her eyes tight and opened her mouth to scream. 

But she didn't have the chance to. The beast had put his hand over her mouth and had another hand on both her arms, holding them so that she couldn't try that stunt again. Kagome struggled violently and unhesitatingly bit hard at his hand. When he shifted it away for just a second, she screamed at the top of her lungs, 

 "PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!"

            Both youkai and human froze as the desperate cry for help echoed from tree to tree, eventually fading to nothing. She expected some unlikely hero to suddenly come from out of no where to save her.

But that didn't happen.

She closed her eyes in defeat and forced herself to relax her body, waiting for her death to come. _I'm coming Grandpa._

She began to wonder if this thing was gonna kill her or not, when she felt a slight breeze brush against her and the pressure on her arms lighten. Kagome let herself open her eyes just a bit but they quickly widened in horror. Before her was the youkai – with blood coming from his mouth and his eyes wide with shock. He fell to the ground in a gruesome heap, and she stared at his form. 

A small noise to her left distracted her, and she suddenly remembered that _something_ had killed him. Kagome quickly swung her head around to stare at her savior, and possibly her soon to be death. What she found was definitely not what she had been expecting.

In front of her was a tall boy with intense eyes that stared back at her with a bored look. He had on a baggy red kimono. Long black hair cascaded down his back to his waist, somehow striking her as elegant. Kagome felt her jaw drop. 

_Wow. He's hot. _

That thought didn't last long as her eyes trailed to the sword he held in his hand.

It was dripping with blood.

This man was a cold blooded killer.

Kagome could've sworn that time had stood still for a second as her heart thumped heavily. She stared at him with a new expression on her face as she stuttered. "Y-you killed him!!!" 

            He shrugged unconcernedly as he flicked the blood off his sword. "It was you or him."

            She frowned at his indifference. If she had killed someone, she'd be damned panicked right now! But what he said had made sense. She shakily got to her knees and stood defiantly glaring at him. He raised an eyebrow at her.

            "What are you doing?"

            "Well, aren't you going to kill me now? Come on, get it over with! Stop teasing me!"

            The dark haired man snorted and said, "Why would I wanna kill you?" 

            "Because you're a cold blooded killer!" She could have killed herself for not holding her tongue, but than again, he was going to do that for her. She lowered her gaze to the ground when she heard a strange sound. She looked up again and realized with horror that he was _laughing_. 

            "Why are you laughing?" She demanded.

            "Ahaha—I'm not—haha—I won't—Kill—!" At that he burst into a fresh new series of laughs. Kagome felt her face heat and she suddenly became interested in brushing the dirt off her hands. So he _had really been saving her. When his laughter subsided, she said,_

"Um...Thank y-" 

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" His gruff voice cut her off. Kagome stared at him, confused. The laughter in his eyes had gone, and they were not hard and cold, uncaring. "Go home. This is no place for someone like you." He turned around and began to walk away. She glared at the back of his head. 

"I was just trying to say thank you. And for your information, I got lost!"

He pointed in at a cluster of trees. "Go through there, and you'll find the trail." Kagome continued to follow him. 

"What's your name? Do you live here? Alone? How old are you?" 

"Did anyone ever tell you that you are annoying?" He growled, irritated.

"Yes."

"Go away."

"No."

They finally came to a clearing where a small log cabin stood with a fire place and log seat around it, along with other things, like a pile of chopped wood and so on. Leaning against the side of the house next to the pile of wood and broomstick was a sword. All she could see was the hilt, but judging by the cover, it looked pretty old and worn.

The trees were cleared in that area, so that the sun shined brightly down. Kagome shaded her eyes feeling relief of seeing the sunlight again.

"Wow, you live here? Did you build it yourself?"

"Yeah." He glanced back at her strangely and paused before saying, "Come on, lets get you bandaged." 

Kagome glanced down at her arm and noticed for the first time that it was bleeding. There were long, red scratches right where the youkai had grabbed her. She realized that it had been bleeding the whole time she had been walking. 

"Here, sit down." The man motioned for her to join him at the log seat and when she sat down, he began applying a salve to her skin. His hands worked quickly and gently, handling her injured arm with care. She hissed in pain as she watched the salve sink into her cuts before he quickly bandaged her arm. 

"Thanks." She said, "My name's Kagome. What's your name?" He gave her another strange look that she couldn't decipher. There was something in those dark brown eyes of his that just...called to her...there was something hidden in them...but what....

"Inuyasha." 

"Huh?" Kagome said, startled. She gave him an apologetic smile. She'd forgotten what they had been talking about. "Sorry, what was that? I kind of...spaced out."

"My name is Inuyasha." 

"Inu...yasha...Hm.." She said thoughtfully. "Are you named after that fairy tale?" 

Inuyasha gave her a weak smile and said, "Well, I guess you could say that."

"So, how come you live here by yourself?" His expression suddenly hardened again, and he stood up abruptly. 

"You should go now."

"But—!"

"Go. The trail is over there." 

"Hey, wai—!"

He slammed the door, cutting her off. After that, she had nothing to do but go in the direction he had pointed to and hope that she came to the trail. She kept on glancing back at the small quiet cabin until it was out of sight, wondering why he had suddenly become so cold. She never found the trail, but eventually found herself at the edge of the forest, at another end of the cemetery. It was dark by then, and nobody was around. 

Kagome picked up a small, sharp rock and made a tiny scratch in the tree she stood by before turning around and making her way home. The scratch was hardly noticeable, unless you were looking for it. This way, she'd be able to find her way back to Inuyasha. 

_I wonder why I want to see him again so badly.._

As she neared her house, she decided that she wouldn't tell her mom about what happened. For some reason, she felt it should be kept a secret. She gently slid the door to her home open and stepped inside. 

"I'm home!"

"Oh, Kagome! Kagome, I was so worried! Where have you been?" Her mother came out of the kitchen and hugged her tightly.

"Sorry, I – um – fell asleep in a bench and –."

"Oh, you tore your pants again! How did that happen?" 

"A bush scratched me."

"Oh, well, that's all right. Come in and have something to eat. By the way, what's that bandage on your arm?"

Kagome looked down at her arm, suddenly remembering that she had been scratched. What would she tell her mom?

"Um, a tree scratched me." 

Her mom mistaken her guilty grin for a sheepish one and laughed. "You're so clumsy, Kagome. Come eat now, I saved some dinner for you."

"Okay mom, just let me change the bandage."

She ran upstairs to her room and eagerly began unwrapping the bandage to examine the cuts more closely. As she took away the last of the wrap, she held back a gasp.

The cuts were gone.

======================================

Was it any good?


End file.
